John Baer: Pro-gun stars shine at Capitol rally

REPUBLICAN state Rep. (and lieutenant governor candidate) Daryl Metcalfe from faraway Butler County yesterday offered up a little reminder of the diversity driving Pennsylvania politics.

Metcalfe, arguably the state's most pro-gun lawmaker, hosted his fifth Right to Keep and Bear Arms Rally at the Capitol with several hundred gun fans and, as advertised, its "biggest-ever lock-and-loaded lineup."

Speakers included NRA executive vice president Wayne La-Pierre, Gun Owners of America director Larry Pratt and former Texas lawmaker and national right-to-carry advocate Suzanna Hupp.

The annual gig is a direct response "to that gun-grabbing liberal Ed Rendell coming up from Philadelphia," Metcalfe said.

The rally's far from subtle. It once featured a suggestion that gun-control supporter Rep. Angel Cruz, D-Phila., be hanged from the "tree of liberty."

Cruz, Rendell and others push for controls such as restricting gun sales to one a month per buyer. There was no lynching suggestion yesterday, but plenty of evidence of Pennsylvania's love affair with firearms.

Metcalfe called for "celebrating" Ed's last year in office and drew cheers and loud applause with:

"We have defeated that man every step of the way."

Attendees said it's important to visually remind the Legislature of same.

"It's a good cause," said Harry Gromo, 69, a retired Beaver County steelworker holding a sign: "Gun control means using both hands."

He said he came because "every day there's something new" threatening gun rights.

The current targets are Philly and other municipalities enacting local gun laws.

A bill sponsored by Metcalfe requires locals to foot court costs, attorney fees and "actual damages" in successful challenges to local gun controls.

The control-advocacy group CeaseFirePa says 37 municipalities have resolutions or ordinances requiring reporting lost or stolen guns.

Rallygoers Garin Moore, 50, unemployed, and Connie Miller, 51, a floral designer, both of Tower City, in Schuylkill County, said local laws don't work.

"Only the law-abiding cooperate," said Miller.

"Don't fear what a person carries in their hand," Moore said. "Fear what they carry in their heart."

There's also a push for a tough Castle Doctrine (as in a man's home is his castle) protecting gun owners from civil liability if they use lethal force in self-defense at home, work, in a vehicle or (for some reason) at state parks.

Republican candidates for governor, Attorney General Tom Corbett and Berks County Rep. Sam Rohrer, were introduced and stood with rally speakers, along with dozens of lawmakers from both parties.

Few issues are as divisive. While far from exclusively partisan, more Democrats tend to support controls; more Republicans oppose them.

Philly's Democratic candidate for governor, state Sen. Tony Williams, for example, is running statewide TV ads calling for local gun laws.

In contrast, Metcalfe says that if he's lieutenant governor and the governor does anything resembling retreat from the Second Amendment, Metcalfe will run against him in the next primary.

But then, Williams represents Philly, and Metcalfe represents Butler County.

For comparison purposes, the tourism section of Butler County's Web site features the fact that three local bridges are closed through Oct. 15 and touts "The Barns of Butler County," a self-guided driving tour of 16 barns "tucked among our rolling hills."

Metcalfe, 47, is as conservative as it gets. He opposes routine resolutions honoring Muslims (because they "do not recognize Jesus Christ as God") and domestic-violence awareness (because language related to men suggests "a homosexual agenda").

But he has the last ballot position in a field of nine unknown Republicans for lieutenant governor and could - based on name ID among hard-core GOP voters, especially in western Pennsylvania - prevail in the May 18 primary.

And that could be interesting.

"Once I get elected lieutenant governor," he says, "both parties will move to abolish the office . . . I will not be a silent sidekick."

In fact, he'd be a double-barreled booster - for gun rights and the political right.

Send e-mail to baerj@phillynews.com.

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